We were up early Thursday for a walk in lower Manhattan. The weather was looking a little inclement, but we headed out anyway. We arrived in City Hall park as the rain started. The wind was gusting up to 40kms an hour as well, do it wasn’t very pleasant. We deferred our planned three hour walking tour until the next day and instead did a short self walk around the Wall St area.
We walked the windy streets in the windy, cold and wet conditions.
It wasn’t very pleasant, but we trudged along for a little while. The cobbled stoned roads reminded us of the history of development of this part of Manhattan. Eventually we gave into the weather and found a cafe for a hot chocolate and sat for a while. The chocolate was yum, the corner in the little cafe warm and we simply sat and watched the business people struggle outside in the weather.
Lunch was drawing near so we thought we’d find somewhere nice for lunch and give the weather a chance to improve. Mardi searched local place and we settled on Fraunces Tavern. For a couple of reasons, it was close, it was also the oldest building in NYC and was tied to George Washingtonian with a museum above, which we were keen to visit.
After sitting for a little longer we walked briskly the 300 metres to the tavern to enjoy lunch. We were taken back in time as we entered the original doorway. Original fittings, rooms, halls and doorways surrounded us as did the art work on the wall depicting the times three hundred years earlier.
We ordered and Mardi had the fish and chips and I had beef cooked and served on a stone.
After lunch we toured the museum upstairs and read about the rich history of this venue. George Washington formed the first US Congress here, the building housed the first federal departments and battle plans were drawn up.
After we finished our visit we ventured outside and decided to head home. The weather was awful and we were seeing Billy Joel in concert a little later, so some down time in our room wasn’t a bad thing.
We had some dinner in our room and headed out to the concert a little after 7.30. It was pouring with rain and the wind was howling through Times Square. It’s only a short walk from our hotel, so we rushed through the weather to the subway. The subway is so hot, we dried off before we boarded the train for the one stop 12 block ride to Penn Station.
We arrived at Madison square garden and folded into the massive crowd as we made our way through security. Given what happened in Paris a week earlier security was at airport levels. Bag searches, body scanners, dogs, the whole nine yards. We eventually made it through and then commenced the long journey to our seat. MSG aisle a weird venue, essentially one way in for everyone, then you fan out and up to your seat. As chance would have it our seats were 270 degrees around from the entry point. We made the long walk and found our seats.Â
The crowd swelled and at about 8.30 Billy Joel made his way out and started the show with My Life. Pressure and The Entertainer followed. A mixture of hits interposed with obscure songs followed for the next hour and a half before he closed the show with Scenes from an Italian Restaurant and Piano Man. The encore was a best of the best with seven more songs. The full set list is here: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/billy-joel/2015/madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-63f5661f.html
The highlights for me were a short rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody and A Hard Days Night. New York State of Mind was also a stand out.Â
Overall a great show.Â
Leaving MSG was just as hard as getting in as we walked down escalators, turned off, and made our way to the street. The rain had stopped, the crowd to the subway was massive, so we decided to walk the 10 blocks home.Â
The crowd slowly thinned, and then grew again as we reached the Times Square precinct. We made our way through the crowd and made it home, exhausted after a long day, but buzzing after such a great concert. We played some Billy Joel songs and eventually made it to bed.
